The Scapegoat

brothers, both men of yet higher place, the one being Naib es-sultan, or Foreign Minister, at Tangier, and the other Grand Vizier to the Sultan at Morocco. Thus in a land where there is one nob

he hope of wealth that went along with it

ves, but every one was to give what he had to him that wanted it. They were to avoid swearing, yet whatever they said was to be firmer than an oath. They were to be ministers of peace, and if any man did them violence they were never to resist him. Nevertheless they were not to lack for courage, but to laugh to scorn the enemies that tormented them, and smile in their pains and shed no te

ir hands, and some brought little on their backs save the stripes of their tormentors. A few had flocks and herds, which they drove before them. A few had tents, which they shared with their fellows; and a few had guns, with which they shot the wild boar for their food and the hyena for their safety. Thus, possessing little and desiring nothing, having neither houses nor lands, and only considering themselves secure from their rulers in having no mone

loated always in the air, and the grass and the broom had the dusty and tired look of autumn. It was also the month of the fast of Ramadhan, and Israel's men were Muslims. So, to save himself the double vexation of oppre

through his own province of Tetuan, nothing did the poor people think but that he had come to make a new assessment of their lands and holdings, their cattle and belongings, that he might tax them afresh and more fully. So, to buy his mercy in advance, many of them came out of their

"of the little that God has given us

as to hang across his saddle-bow, or, perhaps, at the two trembling hands of an old wo

he people's terror, but

I come again," intending to tell them, when tha

ley of the Koos hastened before him to the Kaid of that grey town of bricks and storks and palm-trees and evil odours, and t

ord is going again to the Shereef at Wazzan;

been provided for him near the market-place, and the same night he left the town (laden with the pres

s that grow at the foot of the lofty, double-peaked Boo-Hallal, and there the young grand Shereef himself, at the gate of

lah shall decree that you leave me too soon on your happy mission to

el, but he offered no answer to

s that time has wrought since then, under Allah's will; but none in the past have been so grateful as the elevation of Israel ben Oliel,

show," s

and past the old Mosque that is a ruin inhabited by hawks and the other mosque of the Aissawa, and the three squalid fondaks wherein the Jews live like cattle. A swarm of Arabs followed at their h

the Shereef's black bodyguard riding before them for guide and badge of honour, through the dense and noisome market-place, where (like a clock that is warning to strike) a multitude of hungry and thirsty people with fierce and dirty faces, under a heavy wave of palpitating heat, and amid clouds of hot dust, were waiting for the sound of the cannon that should proclaim the end of that day's fast. Water-carri

ess and by the poor out of their fear. While they thought the Sultan had sent for him, they kissed his foot who desired no homage, and loaded him with presen

hat lies in front of the town, through the heat and fumes of the fetid place, and amid the furious barks of the scavenger dogs which prowl in the night around it, they came in the grey of

k guard to the sleepy gate-keepers. They had come thus far in Israel's ho

om, came yawns and broken snores and then snarls and curses.

you to curse your betters. Quick! get up,-or I'll shave your beard. Open! or I'll ride the donkey on your he

!" muttered sever

the Sultan, God grant him victory. Do you hear, you dogs? Sidi Israel el Tetaw

the feet of Israel's horse, asking forgiveness by grace of Allah and his Prophet. In the meantime, the other two had sped away to the Kasbah, and before Israel had ridden far into the

r by the Sultan-Allah preserve him!-but had I

h you!" inter

he Kaid continued, bowing low over Israel's stirrup-"he reache

said Israel, and

ly. "Well, your lodging is ready-the best in Mequinez-and your mona is cooking-all the

house wherein Israel and his people were to rest until sunset; and always the burden of h

"it is a mistake; the Sultan has not sent

im?" the Kaid e

st tell me where that other is to be found. A great man, newl

was a lon

onour. The black guard of the Shereef of Wazzan had gone off before him, chuckling and grinning in their disgust, and behind him his own little company of sold

n in the peaked shasheeah of the soldier, riding at a furious gallop from the direction of Fez, and shouting to all they came upon to fly from the path they had to pass over. They were messengers of the Sultan, carrying letters to the Kaid

our of princes! When the one was taken from him and the other failed him, where then was the hope of that man's salvation, whether in this world or the next? The dungeon, the chain, the lash, the wooden jellab-what else was left to him? Only the wail of the poor whom he has made poorer, the curse of the orphan whom he has made fatherless, and the execration of the down-trodden whom he has oppressed. These followed him into his prison, and mingled their cries with the clank of his irons, for they were voices which had never yet deserted the man that made them, but clamoured loud

could be lifted away from his child, he would be content and happy! Naomi! His love! His darling! His sweet flower afflicted for his transgression. Oh! let him lose anything, everythi

inst their leader. Six months ago they had abandoned their houses and followed him They had passed from Mequinez to Rabat, from Rabat to Mazagan, from Mazagan to Mogador, from Mogador to Marrakesh, and finally from Marrakesh through the treacherous Beni Magild to Fez. At every step their numbers had increased but their substance had diminished, for only the destitute had joined them. Nevertheless, while they had their flocks and herds they had borne their privati

the vain promises that had been made to them that God would feed them as He fed the birds! God was witness to all their calamities; He was seeing them robbed day by day, He was seeing them famish hour by hour, He was s

d encompassed Mohammed of Mequinez as Israel and his company came up with them. And

nostrils. "Do you think I am Moses," he cried, "that I should smite the rock and

r burdens are heavier than you can bear, and that your lives are scarce to be endured, and that death itself would be a relief. Nevertheless, who shall say but that Allah sees a way to ave

y-silver signet rings and earrings, chains for the neck, and Solomon's seal to hang on the breast as safeguard against the evil eye-as well as much gold filagree of the kind that men give to their women. Israel had packed them in a box and laid them in t

feet of the young Mahdi, saying what Israel had bidden him, it was the same to the

rayer," he cried; "an ange

d thing had happened to them, took up his shout of

we will follow you

in a breath, like children, and sent up a great broken cry of thanks to God that He had sent them succour, that they might not die. At last, when they had risen to their f